TOXICOLOGY

ChE 428
Chemical Process Safety
Department of Chemical Engineering
University of San Carlos Technological Center

Chemical Engineers must know

about....

The way toxicants enter biological

organisms
The way toxicants are eliminated from
biological organisms
The effects of toxicants in biological
organisms, and
Methods to prevent or reduce entry of
toxicants into biological organisms

Toxicology
Toxicity
Dosage
Bioaccumulation
Biomagnification
Synergism
Response
Acute effect
Chronic effect

Toxicants Entry

INGESTION through
the mouth into the
stomach
INHALATION through
the mouth or nose into
the lungs
INJECTION through
cuts into the skin
DERMAL ABSORPTION
through skin membrane

Toxic blood concentration level as

a function of route of exposure

Methods for Control of

Toxicants

TOXICOLOGY: Assessing Chemical

Hazards
Toxicity: measure of
how harmful a
substance is in
causing injury,
illness, or death to
living organisms.
FACTORS AFFECTING
TOXICITY:
1) Dose: the amount
of substance
ingested, inhaled or
absorbed.

Factors Affecting Toxicity

2) Age of
individual
3) Immune
System
(detoxification)
4) Genetic
Makeup
5) Length and
frequency of

Factors Affecting Harm Caused By A

Substance
Solubility (water
soluble move
through environment
easily)
2) Fat Soluble (can
accumulate in body
tissue and cells)
3) Persistence (how
long before it breaks
down)
1)

Bioaccumulatio
n

Factors Affecting Harm Caused By A

Substance
4) Chemical interactions
For instance: workers exposed to asbestos increase
risk of long cancer by 20 times, if they smoke
also 400 times.
Response: they type of damage (acute vs. chronic)

Principles of Toxicology
Any synthetic or
natural chemical can
be harmful if
ingested in large
enough quantity.

THE DOSE
MAKES THE
POISON
Critical questions:
what is the lowest

Principles of Toxicology
Trace amounts of chemicals in the environment may or
may not be harmful.

Some say they are

not, look at life
expectancy over
last several
centuries.
Some say they are,
look at cancer
rates and say it is
hard to know longterm impacts.

Poisons
Median lethal
dose (LD50): at
what dosage
does the toxin kill
50% of animals
(usually mice or
rats)

Fig. 19-5 p. 413

Toxicity
Toxicity
Super
Extreme
Very
Toxic
Caffeine

LD50

Lethal Dose

< 0.01less than 1 drop

dioxin, botulism
mushrooms

<5 less than 7 drops

heroin, nicotine

5-507 drops to 1 tsp.

50-500

1 tsp.

Moderate 500-5K
alcohol

1 oz.-1 pt.

Slightly

1 pt.

Non-Toxic
sugar

Examples

5K-15K
>15K

>1qt.

morphine, codeine
DDT, H2SO4,
aspirin, wood
ethyl alcohol, soaps
water, table

Principles of Toxicology
How do scientists
determine toxicity:
1) Epidemiologic case
studies
2) Animal Testing
(usually with control
groups)
3) Computer modeling

Considerations before a
toxicological study

The toxicant
The target or test organism
The effect or response to be
monitored
The dose range
The period of test

Principles of Toxicology
How good are the
estimates of
toxicology?
There are serious
limitations to all
these types of
studies.
Therefore, most
allowable limits are
set well below
estimated harmful
levels.

Annual death rates in the U.S. in 2003.

How toxicants are eliminated

from the body?

EXCRETION through the kidney, liver,

lungs, and other organs
DETOXIFICATION by changing toxic
chemicals into something less harmful
substance by biotransformation
STORAGE in the fatty tissue

Chemical Hazards

What are toxic and hazardous

chemicals?
What are some possible impacts from
chemical hazards?
Are hormonally active agents a human
health threat?
Why do scientists no so little about the
impacts of chemicals on human health?
Is pollution prevention the answer?

What are toxic and hazardous

chemicals?
Toxic Chemical: a chemical that can cause
temporary or permanent harm or death.
Hazardous Chemical: can harm humans because it is
flammable or explosive.

Types of Toxic Agents

Mutagen: causes
changes to ones
DNA.
Teratogens: chemicals
that cause birth
defects to fetus or
embryo. (alcohol)
Carcinogens: cause
cancer (growth of
cancerous tumors)

Various Responses to
Toxicants

Threshold Level Value (TLV) and Permissible

Exposure Level (PEL) for Some Chemicals

Attention: HEAVY METALS!

The term heavy metal refers to any

metallic chemical element that has a
relatively high density and is toxic or
poisonous at low concentration
Air Pollution heavy metals can
contaminate the air through fossil fuel
combustion, mining, smelting, solid waste
combustion
Water Pollution heavy metals can
contaminate the water through
agricultural fertilizer applications and
wastewater disposal

Mercury - Hg
Mercury is the only common metal which is
liquid at ordinary temperatures. It rarely
occurs free in nature and is found mainly
in cinnabar ore (HgS) in Spain and Italy.
It alloys easily with many metals, such as
gold, silver, and tin - these alloys are
called amalgams. Its ease in
amalgamating with gold is used in the
recovery of gold from its ores.

Health effects of mercury

Disruption of the nervous system

Damage to brain functions
DNA damage and chromosomal damage
Allergic reactions, resulting in skin
rashes, tiredness and headaches
Negative reproductive effects, such as
sperm damage, birth defects and
miscarriages

Environmental effects of
mercury

Fish are organisms that absorb great

amounts of methyl mercury from
surface waters every day (mercury can
accumulate in fish and in the food
chains)
The effects that mercury has on
animals are: kidneys damage, stomach
disruption, damage to intestines,
reproductive failure and DNA alteration

Environmental effects of
cadmium

In aquatic ecosystems cadmium can

bioaccumulate in mussels, oysters,
shrimps, lobsters and fish
The susceptibility to cadmium can vary
greatly between aquatic organisms
Salt-water organisms are known to
be more resistant to cadmium
poisoning than freshwater
organisms

HEALTH EFFECTS

Diarrhoea, stomach pains and severe

vomiting
Bone fracture
Reproductive failure and possibly even
infertility
Damage to the central nervous system
Damage to the immune system
Psychological disorders
Possibly DNA damage or cancer
development

Environmental effects of
cadmium

Cadmium can be transported over great distances

when it is absorbed by sludge
This cadmium-rich sludge can pollute surface waters
as well as soils
Cadmium strongly adsorbs to organic matter in soils
When cadmium is present in soils it can be extremely
dangerous, as the uptake through food will increase
Soils that are acidified enhance the cadmium uptake
by plants
This is a potential danger to the animals that are
dependent upon the plants for survival Cadmium
can accumulate in their bodies, especially when they
eat multiple plants
Cows may have large amounts of cadmium in their
kidneys due to this

Chromium - Cr
Chromium(III) is an essential nutrient for humans and
shortages may cause heart conditions, disruptions of
metabolisms and diabetes
But the uptake of too much chromium(III) can cause
health effects as well, for instance skin rashes
Chromium(VI) is a danger to human health, mainly for
people who work in the steel and textile industry
People who smoke tobacco also have a higher chance of
exposure to chromium

Hexavalent Chromium Chromium (VI) is a species of

chromium that is forbidden to use in electrical &
electronic industry by RoHS Directive.

HEALTH EFFECTS

When it is a compound in leather

products, it can cause allergic reactions,
such as skin rash
After breathing it in, chromium(VI) can
cause nose irritations and nosebleeds
Upset stomachs and ulcers
Respiratory problems
Weakened immune system
Kidney and liver damage
Alteration of genetic material
Lung cancer
Death

Do we still have choice

after all?